This story appears in the November 2017 issue of National Geographic magazine. The Komodo dragon, the largest species of lizard now alive, can grow to 10 feet long and nearly 200 pounds.

Reptile Discovery Center staff at the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute’s (NZCBI) campus in Washington, D.C., are mourning the loss of Murphy, a 26-year-old male Komodo ...